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As though the Gulf Coast states don't have enough to worry about with crude oil spewing into the water at an estimated rate of 5,000 barrels a day, they soon may also have to worry about bacterial plumes. A microbe called Vibrio parahaemolyticus, common in warm coastal waters like ...

Fundamental to computer science is transmitting information using electromagnetic communication - the 0s and 1s of binary code. But nature's tiniest lifeforms have used a very different method for eons, and figuring out how they do it could revolutionize computers.
Bacteria make great use of what's known as molecular communication, in ...

Giving animals antibiotics in order to increase food production is a threat to public health and should be stopped, the FDA said today.
The federal agency says it has the power to ban the practice, but it's starting by issuing "draft guidance" in hopes the food industry will make voluntary changes. ...

It's a cozy Sunday morning as you sneak into your parents' bedroom for some snuggle time. You carefully slip between your mom and dad, feeling the warmth of their bodies. Then your mom turns over, smiles gently and pulls you close for a little kiss. However, instead of the inviting ...

Researchers have restored sight to blind laboratory mice. Using a virus already approved for human gene therapy, the researchers inserted a gene from a light-sensitive bacterium, Natronomonas pharaonis, into cone-cell DNA.

Spanish researchers have discovered a key component of infectious bacteria's battle plan, identifying a protein that tells bacteria in a colony to halt their forward march when antibiotics are present, waiting until the coast is clear before resuming the infection.

Huge and hidden levels of tuberculosis discovered in a South African province devastated by HIV are increasing concerns about the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Africa.
As reported in PLoS Medicine1, when researchers examined newly deceased patients at Edendale hospital in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, they discovered that 50% were ...

A leading scientist at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports the theory that a retrovirus causes chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and says that government researchers have independently confirmed the association.
The link between xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and CFS was reported last year by scientists at ...

n response to consumer demand for more natural food, the food industry has reduced the amount of preservatives in food over recent years. A common preservative is acetic acid, which is used to stop bacterial growth in dressings, sauces, cheese and pickles.
However, new research shows that a small amount of ...

Microbes are with us all our lives, from before the cradle to the grave. And while some are capable of killing us, most of the microbes we carry around — inside and on our skin — are part of a microbial bouquet that makes each of us who we are.
Researchers ...

Way to go, all you planet-saving shoppers who've made the switch to reusable bags! But consider: "Reusable" doesn't mean "self-cleaning."
Researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University queried shoppers headed into grocery stores in California and Arizona, asking them if they wash those reusable bags. The researchers ...

Scientists have completed the most comprehensive comparative analysis to date of bacterial communities inhabiting the human nose and throat, which could provide new insights into why some individuals become colonized with pathogens while others do not. They release their findings today in mBio™ the online open-access journal published by ...

Historic and culturally important artifacts, like all materials, are vulnerable to microbial attack. Cultural Heritage Microbiology, a new text from ASM Press, offers a synthesis of important scientific articles describing microbial deterioration of cultural heritage materials and methods for conserving these objects against this decay.

Bacterial populations found in household dust may determine whether or not a child living in that home develops asthma according to research published in the April 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Bacteria in the mouths of pregnant women can contribute to pre-term birth according to researchs from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights. The findings are published in the April 2010 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity.

An interesting article on the field of optogenetics. Using bacteria, algae and light scientists may one day invent and input/output interface for the brain and lead to cures for diseases such as Parkinsons or chronic depression.

New federal guidelines released today recommend actions that non-healthcare employers should take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009–2010 flu season.

A new study suggests that vaccination with 1918 H1N1 influenza virus-like particles not only protected mice and ferrets against the lethal 1918 influenza virus, but also displayed cross-reactive immunity against the potentially pandemic H5N1 influenza virus. The researchers from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Collaborating Centers ...

In a new study researchers from Japan suggest that a synthetic antimicrobial peptide identified as L5 may prevent death in mice suffering from life-threatening bacterial infections, such as MRSA, by activating the host immune response. They report their findings in the June 2009 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents ...

Researchers from Georgia suggest that the cell-signaling protein, interferon type 1, reduced H5N1 influenza virus replication in mice and may offer some degree of protection in the early stages of infection. They report their findings in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Virology.